WC RB Ricky Johnson's second rushing touchdown of the night. Photo by Anne Cypress.
(West Covina, Ca) – West Covina dealt a huge blow to Walnut’s playoff hopes with a 31-11 win at Thyberg Stadium.
The Bulldogs (4-4, 1-1) used a devastating ground game led by Ricky Johnson’s game high 129 yards on 18 carries. He also had two touchdowns. Jesse Ili added 71 yards rushing on six carries.
Quarterback George Johnson was nine of 16 for a quiet 109 yards and a touchdown.
Johnson was able to get West Covina on the board early on a three-yard run to cap a 11-play drive for 60-yards. The key play on the drive was Jesse Ili’s 40-yard run to open up the possession.
With the Bulldogs up 7-0, the defense showed up on the next Mustang (5-2, 0-2) series as they forced quarterback Austin Cooper to fumble at the 25-yard line. West Covina would score on the good field position with a Luis Gonzalez 23-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
Walnut was unable to get their offense on track during the first half, as they only were able to run only 17 plays on three series. They gained a total of 20-yards during that span. When the Mustangs appeared to start clicking on offense after going down 17-0, Ricky Johnson intercepted a tipped pass by Leonard Rhodes at the Bulldog 15-yard line.
Jesse Ili was tough to bring down on limited carries. Photo by Anne Cypress.
West Covina would go into the halftime break with a 17-3 lead.
The Mustangs appeared to have made adjustments to defending the run as they stopped the Bulldogs on their first possession in the second half.
Walnut then drove to the West Covina 16-yard line and on a crucial fourth and three, Ricky Johnson made the momentum saving tackle on Rhodes run to the right to stop a first down.
On the next series Ricky Johnson put the exclamation point on the evening when he sliced and diced his way into the end zone from 10-yards out to give the Bulldogs a 24-3 lead with 52 seconds left in the third quarter.
Walnut would finally get a touchdown in the fourth quarter when Rhodes battled for three-yards to get into the end zone.
Rhodes was able to get the Mustangs into the endzone. Photo by Anne Cypress.
The Mustangs were led on the ground by Rhodes’s 84 yards on 14 carries and touchdown. Milan King added 69 yards on the ground, while Austin Cooper went 13 of 21 for 122 yards and no touchdowns. He did throw an interception.
The victory by West Covina gives them sole possession of the third and final playoff spot in the San Antonio League. The loss by Walnut puts them in last place with games at home against Nogales and on the road versus South Hills.
Walnut 0-3-0-8-11
West Covina 7-10-7-7-21
Scoring:
WC – Ricky Johnson 3 run (Luis Gonzalez kick)
WC – Gonzalez 23-yard field goal
WC – Adrian Villalobos 24 pass from George Johnson (Gonzalez kick)
W – Jose Mendoza 19-yard field goal
WC – R. Johnson 10 run (Gonzalez kick)
W – Leonard Rhodes 3 run (Rhodes from Peralta)
WC – Chris Solomon 18 run (Gonzalez kick)
Leave a Reply